Posted by ASHLEYPublished on Mon, Nov 5 2012
I was really surprised by Gil's post about the Anheuser-Busch's drinking water donation to Hurricane Sandy victims. I was at first cynical about the heavy branding of the can (They want to know that you know who is sending the water) and the ecological burden of 1,056,000 cans in a disaster situation. For me it echoed David's post about a weakened infrastructure's inability to pick up and remove waste.
Then I dug into Anheuser-Busch's recycling efforts and came across the video below that illustrates their commitment to water conservation.
I do give them credit for recycling up to 99% of solid waste in their factories each day, but its up to the end user whether that aluminum can will end up on the ground or in a recycling bin. I fear that waste management systems in New York and New Jersey are still overburdened to handle this issue.
Also Anheuser-Busch credits their Cartersville, Georgia factory, the same one that's bottling emergency water, for being their most water-efficient brewery. In this 1 day effort has their water consumption changed compared to regular production? I'll investigate the details on their donation further.
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ReplyDeleteAshley,
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed your post. It looks deeper into the issues of environmental impact within the relief effort Anheuser-Busch is aiding. As an Environmental Engineering student focusing on water sustainability, this raises some very interesting questions for me. First, is this type of relief effort put forth by Anheuser-Busch sustainable in a larger disaster such as Hurricane Katrina? If not, why and how can we come up with a better way to get massive amounts of water to these places? Similarly, for the Hurricane Sandy relief, do the cons of the environmental impact from these cans outweigh the pros of being able to get water to all these people in need? It seems to me that the cans being filled with water after Sandy would have still been processed, but with beer instead. I venture to guess that overburdening the management systems of New York and New Jersey is a minor hiccup in the grand scheme of things. However, the topics raised with this post are not only important now, but also in planning for future relief efforts.
I believe that the route being taken by Anheuser-Busch is the most efficient way to aid in a relief effort with limited amounts of water. Busch has both the resources needed to package the water as well as the resources needed to distribute the water to an enormous amount of people. Having the ability to switch from packaging beer to water is an extremely helpful tool in the effort to relieve those struggling in the aftermath of Sandy. However, the location of this particular disaster is helpful because the plant is relatively nearby. If a similar emergency situation were to arise in a location far from these factories, how could the need for large amounts of potable water be satiated. These are issues that should be tackled before future disasters strike. If we are to wait until the next hurricane, it may be too late.